Dino Crisis 3 - Going Back In Time
by chimanruler15
Summary: I recommend reading this version. It's shorter, yes, but it has fewer characters and makes a lot more sense (at least to me). I tried to remove as many inconsistencies as possible with the previous games. If there are still any left, please let me know. Of course, you're more than welcome to read the other version. Enjoy! ;)
1. Escaping Death

Dylan looked up at the malfunctioning, damaged equipment around him as the facility started to self-destruct. He then looked back at Paula—his daughter from another time—whose legs were crushed by a supercomputer.

"Papa," the young, injured girl uttered.

Regina came to his side and crouched. She spoke in an urgent manner. "Dylan, what are we going to do?" she asked him. "If we don't go now, we'll never get back!"

Dylan looked behind him. There was a flash, and the Timegate in the back of the room started working. "Regina," he said. "The gate is open. I know you don't want to, but you'll have to go back by yourself." He then looked back at Paula. "I won't leave Paula."

Regina stood up in alarm. "Are you crazy!?" she exclaimed.

"Just go, please!" Dylan demanded. "You have the Third Energy Data, right?"

Regina pulled out the disk Dylan asked her about and showed it to him. She did not look very happy doing this.

"When you get back to our original time, use the disk to learn about 3rd Energy," Dylan explained. "Then build a perfect gate to come and pick us up from the last time."

Regina took a moment to evaluate Dylan's plan. "I'll...do it," she declared. "I will! I promise!"

Dylan saluted Regina, who returned his salute.

The facility continued to damage itself around them, nearing complete detonation. A feminine, mechanical voice spoke throughout the facility. "Final warning: ten seconds till detonation," it said loudly.

Back in the Timegate room of the facility, Regina continued to talk to Dylan. "Don't forget," she said. "You still owe me one."

Dylan nodded. "Well then," he replied, adding, "you better get back quick."

Regina slowly walked backwards and turned towards the Timegate. She ran up to it, going up some stairs. She stopped in front of the machine and looked back at Dylan, showing a gloomy facial expression. She turned around and ran into the Timegate. The energy in the portal disappeared when she ran through the gate, closing the gate completely.

Stuff continued to malfunction and explode around Dylan and Paula. Several computers started falling around them. Dylan huddled over Paula with his body, shielding her from debris.

"Papa!" Paula exclaimed, becoming more scared than ever.

Dylan heard rumbling and looked to his left. A supercomputer started to fall towards them. Dylan shielded Paula with his body again.

Seconds later, the entire facility exploded.


	2. Meeting Up With Rick

The town looked pretty much the same to Regina as she walked down the main street dressed in casual clothing. Everyone was wearing their same old Western clothes, and the small buildings and homes were virtually unchanged. The sky was blue, peaceful, calm, and cloudless. All is as it was...before the 3rd Energy Incident.

_Nothing's changed,_ Regina thought.

She looked around the town, wondering where her destination was. It didn't take her long to find it.

"Aha!" Regina shouted. "There it is!"

Regina immediately ran towards an apartment complex. She went to Building #5 and found Apartment #35. She stood in front of the door, knocked on it a few times, and waited. Fifteen seconds passed before someone opened the door. The person was an African-American male with a box-shaped hairdo. He looked at Regina for several seconds. "Regina?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Rick!" Regina happily said, hugging him tightly. "Am I glad to see you!" Rick was her old friend and was her ally in the mission where she, he, and Gail went to Ibis Island to capture Dr. Kirk.

Rick was confused. "I don't understand," he replied.

Regina let go of him. "I have to talk to you," she answered. "Now."

Regina quickly ran into Rick's apartment, pulled Rick inside, slammed the door, and locked it.

Rick was still confused. "Regina, did something happen?"

"Yes," Regina answered, with a gloomy look on her face.

Rick saw her facial expression. "By the look on your face, that doesn't sound very good."

Regina pointed to the sofa in Rick's living room. "Have a seat, Rick," she replied. "I think you need to hear this."

Rick sat down on his sofa. "I'm listening," he said.

Regina pulled up a chair, sat down in it, and began to tell the story of her last mission, where she and her comrade Dylan had to go back in time to the Cretaceous Era to rescue many survivors. She told the men of the hardships they had to face and the dinosaurs they fought. Regina didn't leave any details out of the story. After two hours of storytelling, Regina finally got to the ending of her tale, which was her current problem. When she finished the story, she told Rick what her promise to Dylan was. "And, that's why I need your help," she concluded.

"I see," Rick said. "Well, I'm here to help you. You are my friend, after all."

Regina sat down next to Rick and hugged him. "Thank you, Rick," she replied, smiling.

"However," he said, adding, "this means that by going through this plan, we would be going directly against the government's orders. That Timegate is supposed to be used for something else, and we can risk getting caught."

Regina nodded. Completing this task without getting caught wasn't going to be easy. "If we are going to do this, how are we going to deal with the government? Won't they find out about our absences?"

"Leave that up to me," Rick declared. "I'll make sure that that never happens."

"How?" Regina questioned.

"I'm a tech genius!" Rick assured her, smiling. "I can hack anything, remember?"

Regina nodded in agreement, grinning. "That leaves the task of getting everything we need for building the Timegate."

"All right," Rick said. "What do we have to get?"

"We need the blueprints to the Timegate first. We already have the 3rd Energy Data Disk, which will help us learn about 3rd Energy."

"Great. So where are these blueprints?"

"I don't know. I was hoping that you could find that out."

"Me?"

"Don't you have access to the S.O.R.T. database?" Regina winked at Rick.

Rick blinked. "Regina, I don't know about this. They trust me with that information! I can't let anyone see it!"

"You are helping me, right?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Then, it's official." Regina stood up. "After you find out where the blueprints are, I'm going to get them."

"I'm not coming with you?"

"No, I need you to stay here and study this 3rd Energy Data Disk." Regina took the disk out of her pocket and handed it to Rick. "This will help you learn about 3rd Energy, which we will use to power up the Timegate. In the meantime, I will collect the blueprints."

Rick looked at the blue, luminous disk. "Are you sure about this, Regina?"

Regina nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Dylan and Paula are counting on me. Now, how long will it take you to find out where those blueprints are?"

"A few minutes. Five at the most."

"Great." Regina sat down again. "Can you do it now?"

"Sure." Rick stood up and went to his computer at his desk on the other side of the living room. He sat down in his chair, turned it on, logged in, started up a program, and inputted several commands. In moments, Rick had access to all of the information in the government's database.

Regina stared at the computer as a plethora of information scrolled down the screen. "Wow," she commented. "It's that easy?"

"Yes," Rick replied. "I just log in, and I have instant access to top-secret information. Also, for security reasons, my computer has a state-of-the-art firewall, which will prevent hackers from accessing my personal data."

"Excellent. Now, where are those blueprints?"

"Give me a minute." Rick typed in a few more commands and scrolled through the long line of information on the screen until he found what he was looking for. "The plans to the Timegate are kept in an isolated area in South America."

"All the way over there?" Regina wondered.

"For top-secret reasons, of course," Rick answered.

"All right. Write down the coordinates of that place."

Rick wrote down the coordinates on a new piece of paper. "I got the coordinates."

"Good. So, with your unlimited access to S.O.R.T.'s database, getting me a ride shouldn't be a problem, correct?"

"That is correct, Miss Regina," Rick answered, smiling and winking.

Regina smiled and nodded.

Rick put in many more commands into the computer. "Done," he replied. "Your ride to your destination is tomorrow at 10:00 A.M." Rick handed her another piece of paper. "Here's the address. Don't be late!"

Regina grinned. "I won't," she said. She turned around and walked to the front door.

"Wait!" Rick shouted. He walked up to Regina and handed her a green pass with her picture and information on it. "I made this while making your travel arrangements."

Regina looked at him in amazement. "Wow, you are fast!" she commented.

Rick beamed. "Thanks," he replied. "Anyway, keep it with you. You won't be able to access your ride without it."

"Thanks." Regina put away the pass in her pocket. "See you tomorrow." She closed the door.


	3. Heading To South America

The next day, Regina found herself in front of a top-secret SORT area bordered by a fence laced with barbed wire. She drove up to the booth and found a man standing there.

"ID, please," the man requested.

Regina handed him the pass that Rick gave her yesterday. The man inspected the card, swiped it into an electronic lock, and gave it back to her. Within seconds, the fence doors slid open.

"Go ahead," the man said.

"Thanks," Regina replied. She went into the military compound, following the street. She drove past several buildings and found Rick standing next to a helicopter on a helipad.

She parked her car onto the side of the street, stepped out, and closed the door.

The air outside was moderately warm, and the sky was partially cloudy. Rick was waiting for her, smiling.

Regina walked up to the helicopter, noticing Rick's smile. "Why are you smiling?" she asked.

"Princess, your carriage awaits," Rick joked.

Regina laughed. "Thanks, my good man." She got into the chopper. Rick handed something to her after she sat down in the back seat.

"A headset?" Regina inquired.

"Hey, we've got to keep in touch somehow," Rick answered. "I'll be in my laboratory, monitoring your progress."

"Right," Regina said, putting on the headset. "Well, I guess I'll be going now."

"Wait," Rick said. He gave Regina a black suitcase. "Here's your equipment. You're going to need it." He took a few moments to open the suitcase. Then, he briefed Regina on the items inside.

After Rick was done, Regina noticed that Rick missed an item. "What does this thing do?" she asked, picking up a small, black box.

"I forgot about that," Rick said. "That's a surprise."

"What's the surprise?"

"When the time comes, you'll find out." He smiled and winked. "See you later, Regina."

Regina waved good-bye. The helicopter's blades started whirring. Within a few seconds, the helicopter was off the ground, going higher and higher before flying forward, leaving the area. Rick watched as the helicopter left his sight.


	4. South America - Part One

Regina couldn't help but think about the past while the chopper flew en route to South America. She thought about Dylan and their adventures together. She thought about the very mysterious—yet massively annoying—helmet people they encountered while trying to find survivors. She thought about the blond girl she handcuffed to a control shack a day ago. Regina couldn't get the disturbing picture of this girl having her legs crushed by a supercomputer out of her mind.

_Poor girl,_ Regina thought.

The chopper flew over Brazil and neared the Amazon Jungle. Regina couldn't help but mull over the fact that that girl was Dylan's daughter.

_How did he find that out? And, why is the girl there to begin with?_

Regina was just about to think of some answers in her head when the pilot spoke.

"We're here!" the male pilot declared.

The chopper hovered over the jungle as the male pilot emerged from his chair, picked up a ladder, and threw it over the side of the vehicle.

"Thanks for your help," said Regina.

"You're welcome," responded the pilot. "I'll be waiting a few miles north of the facility. When you are done, just head in that direction." The man handed her a compass. "Here, in case you get lost."

"Thank you."

"Ready to leave?"

"Yes." Regina checked her equipment once more before going over to the ladder. She climbed over the edge and positioned herself on the ladder.

The pilot returned to his chair and lowered the helicopter slowly. Regina looked down as she neared the tops of trees. Soon, the helicopter got close enough to the ground. Regina dismounted the ladder onto the grass. The pilot pulled up the ladder and waved good-bye to Regina as the vehicle flew off into the distance.

Regina waved good-bye and turned her attention to the vegetation surrounding her.

A crackling, muffled noise came through her headset. "Regina, can you hear me?" a voice asked.

Regina adjusted her headset. "Rick, is that you?"

Rick answered, "Yes." He was back in his apartment behind a computer screen, monitoring Regina and pinpointing her location. He spoke into his microphone. "You are in the jungle now, correct?"

"Yes," Regina confirmed. "I'm heading South towards the facility." She traveled through the jungle in a southerly direction. She moved quickly but quietly, being careful not to make too much noise.

Eventually, Regina reached the facility. She hid behind some trees to avoid being seen and looked at the facility. Through the last rows of trees, she could make out a tan-colored building with tall walls on all four of its sides. It was in the center of a green, circular field. Guards were on the circumference of this field, equidistant from each other. They faced the jungle with loaded guns in their arms. Regina was a few feet away from the edge of the circle, staying out of sight.

"Great," Regina muttered under her breath. "How am I supposed to get past these guys?"

Rick heard her words. "Don't worry; I'm prepared for this. Get out the black box you asked about before you left."

Regina did what he requested. "Okay," she said. "Now, what?"

"Head to the left a few feet. Then place the box on the ground. Make sure no trees are in front of it."

Regina did what he asked. "Done."

"Great. There should be a small red button on the side of the box. Press it, and walk back to your previous position."

Regina pressed the button. It made quiet beeping sounds.

_Oh, no! Is this a bomb?_

"No, the thing is not a bomb," Rick said, almost as if he read her thoughts.

_Thank goodness!_ Regina let out a sigh of relief and walked back to the tree she was previously hiding behind.

"Now, we wait," Rick stated.

After thirty seconds, the box whirred softly and started opening itself up. More and more compartments revealed themselves as the box repeatedly unfolded itself.

"What's it doing?" Regina asked.

"You'll see," replied Rick.

The box stopped expanding its insides. Several square open spots were arranged in rows on top of the box. In them were orange objects.

Regina still didn't get what was going on, but Rick told her to wait a little while longer.

The objects shook and spontaneously shot up into the air and over the field. They exploded on the ground near the center of the field, making very loud noises.

"Wow," Regina said. "What are these, fireworks?"

"No, they're my special small flares. They fly a long distance, travel in a curved path, and are set off via remote."

"Nifty," Regina added.

The guards heard the noise from the flares and turned their heads. Several small fires started in the center of the field.

"Oh, no!" a guard called out and went to go extinguish the flames. The rest of the guards followed suit.

Regina saw the bright flames from the jungle. "Um, Rick?" she asked. "Are you trying to burn the whole place down?"

"No," Rick replied. "Don't worry. They'll extinguish themselves in a few minutes."

"All right. Now what?" Regina asked.

"The guards are distracted now," Rick declared. "Go! Quickly!"

_Shoot!_ Regina thought. She raced down the field towards the nearest wall, keeping an eye out for any guards. All of the guards were far away from her on her right, trying to put out the flames. She eventually reached the wall and hid behind a nearby crate. When Regina peered from the side of the crate, she saw that the coast was still clear. To the right of her on the wall was a numbered key lock adjacent to a brown metal door.

"Rick?" Regina asked. "How do I get past this lock? I need a code."

"Hold on," Rick replied. "Give me a few seconds."

Back in Rick's apartment, he quickly inputted several commands into a computer program designed for cracking numbered locks in any location. He pinpointed the location of the lock and entered several more commands. After a few more seconds, he got the code.

"I've got it!" Rick declared.

Regina saw that the flames started to wane. "What is it?" she quickly inquired.

"The code is '01379.'"

Regina quickly entered the code. There was a beep, and the door made an unlocking sound.

"Awesome!" Regina exclaimed. "It worked!"

"Of course it did," Rick boasted.

The flames diminished. The guards let out sighs of relief and turned to go back to their posts. However, Regina was already inside with the door closed by the time any of the guards entered the area.

"That was close," Regina said. "Nice work, Rick. You're the best."

"Thanks, I know," Rick replied, blushing and smiling.

Regina checked her surroundings. She was in some dimly lit corridor. "Um, Rick?" she asked. "Where am I?"

"Hold on," Rick answered. "Let me check." He brought up a map of the facility on the computer screen. He pinpointed Regina's location with a few key strokes. "You're in an L-shaped hallway. On the other end is a door leading to the entrance of the facility. It seems clear."

Regina nodded. She turned her light source on and the hallway became brighter and easier to see. She walked down the first part of the corridor and turned left. Straight ahead at the end of the second section of the hallway was the door to the facility.

The door had an electronic lock next to it. Rick examined the lock.

"It seems you can short it with an electric object," he stated.

"No problem," Regina replied, pulling out her trusty stun gun from her pocket. This weapon had been with her since her last adventure. She remembered shocking dinosaurs and opening electronically locked doors with it. It was basically her trademark weapon.

_This thing is awesome,_ Regina thought to herself as she activated the stun gun. Unfortunately, the thing wouldn't work. _Now, what's wrong?_ It didn't take long for her to figure out the problem.

"No!" Regina shouted.

"What?" Rick asked her.

"I forgot to charge my stun gun!"

"Not to worry, Regina. I always come prepared for times like this. Check your inventory and find a black, rectangular object."

Regina put away her stun gun, scanned her equipment, and found the object Rick asked for. It was a polished, slightly thin, sleek, moderately long, dark, rectangular object. It felt cool to the touch as Regina wrapped her fingers around it. It surprisingly had a comfortable grip. She inspected the mysterious object and found that it had a button on one of its sides. Regina pressed the button an a pulse of electric energy came out of the black object, forming a long, red rectangle.

"Hey, cool!" Regina said in excitement. "A new stun gun!"

"It's not _just_ a new stun gun," Rick clarified. "This stun gun delivers twice as much damage as your old stun gun, has twice as much range, and even has the ability to shoot out electrical waves of energy. It can also short electronic locks twice as fast and has a permanent effect on them. In other words, it's twice as better as your old one. It looks more like a light saber, too."

"Nice!" Regina said, swinging the stun gun back and forth.

"There should be another button on the device," Rick added. "Press it."

Regina found the second button and pressed it. A wave of electric energy shot out of her electric weapon and flew forward fifty feet before completely disappearing. "Cool!" she exclaimed.

"Your new stun gun has a below-average firing rate, but the fairly long range of the projectile attack makes up for it, so there should be little to no problem using this thing as an offensive weapon," Rick continued. "However, the battery will take a little beating if you zap too much."

"Got it," Regina said. "Thanks! You really are a tech genius!"

"Oh, stop," Rick replied, blushing again. "Let's get back to the mission."

Regina went up to the electronic lock and shorted it with her new toy. The color of the lock instantly changed from red to green. She opened the door and went inside. There was an opening in the floor ahead. Regina looked down into the opening and saw a ladder against the wall below her, leading to another corridor. She walked up to the edge of the opening, positioned herself on the ladder, and climbed down into the next area.


	5. South America - Part Two

The corridor led to another door just ahead. Regina moved quietly in order to minimize noise. Through the window of this door, she could see another corridor just ahead. In front of the same door was another hallway perpendicular to the one she was facing. A guard walked back and forth on this path.

"Rick," Regina quietly said, "how am I going to get past this guy? If I open this door, I might make noise and get noticed. Plus, I might even take longer getting past the guard if I open it."

"Good point," Rick said. "Look around you. Do you see an air vent somewhere?"

Regina looked around the hallway. She found one behind her on the ceiling. "Yeah, I found it."

"Good," Rick said. "Stand under it, and bring out your retractable pole."

Regina stood under the vent, got out a small rectangular object, and pointed it upwards. The object started extending itself. When it reached the vent, it pushed the grille up and out of the way. The grille made a slightly loud noise when it hit the wall of the air duct, but luckily, no one heard the sound.

"Phew," Regina said. "That could have startled anyone."

"Thank god it didn't," Rick replied. "I'm surprised the thing wasn't screwed in."

"The security sucks," Regina commented, chuckling. "Apparently, so does the ventilation system."

Rick nodded in agreement, also chuckling. "Okay, you know what to do."

Regina nodded. She took out her grappling gun and pointed it upwards. The hook quickly moved upwards and latched itself onto the opening, leaving a long cord behind. Regina pressed a button on the gun, and the cord started retracting, lifting her off the ground and into the vent. Regina climbed into the air duct and put the grille back over the opening. "All right, Rick, I'm in," she said to the headset.

"Good. I brought up a map of the ventilation system. Head to the right, and keep going until you reach another vent opening."

Regina followed his instructions, stopping just in front of another grille. "Okay," she said. "Next?"

"Open up the grille, and move it to the side," instructed Rick.

Regina used a screwdriver Rick gave her to unscrew the screws anchoring the grille to the opening. After she took care of all the screws, she lifted the grille and gently put it to the side.

"Done," Regina stated. "Next?"

"There is a hallway parallel to you from below. At both ends of the hallway are perpendicular hallways: the one ahead and the one you passed earlier. Think of this area as an I-shape, with you above the long shaft."

"Okay."

"Two guards are patrolling the length of both perpendicular hallways back and forth, one guard for each hallway. I am watching their movements. When I say 'go,' you will drop down from the opening onto the floor. Turn to the left and you should see an alcove you can get into. Roll to the side as soon as you land from the vent onto the ground in order to enter the alcove. If we do this quickly with little noise, the guards won't see us. They walk pretty quickly, so we have to act fast."

"Okay," Regina replied. "Just give me the signal."

Rick waited for the guards to pass. "Ready..., set..., GO!"

Regina moved quickly. She dropped from the opening onto the ground, making almost no noise. She saw the alcove on her left. Regina quickly rolled to the side and entered the alcove before the guards came back.

"All right, I'm in," Regina voiced, turning to face the corridor.

"Nice moves," complimented Rick. "Now, look outside to your left, and you'll find another alcove ahead along this hallway. When I give the signal, run to the next alcove."

"Got it."

"Ready, GO!"

Regina quickly ran to the other alcove, being careful not to trip or make too much noise. She safely entered the next alcove. "I did it," she said. "Now, how do I get past this second guard?"

"You won't have to," Rick replied. "There should be a vent behind you. Unscrew the grille, enter, and close the vent before you continue ahead."

Regina followed instructions. When she was safely in the vent, she talked into the headset. "Okay, I got in. I'm moving forward."

Rick spoke into his mic. "Good. The vent vertically widens ahead of you. After a while, you will reach a dead end. If you look up, you'll see that the vent becomes vertical. Somewhere up there, the vent will go back to being horizontal. Latch onto the edge of this opening above with your grappling gun."

Regina crawled forward in the narrow vent. When its height was big enough, she stood up and walked the rest of the way. Once Regina reached the dead end, she turned around and glanced upwards. The opening to the next section of the passageway was high up. She took out her grappling gun and fired it at the edge of the opening. With a successful latch of the hook, Regina ascended into the opening.

"I'm up," Regina reported. "Where do I go next?"

"Actually, it's pretty straightforward from here," Rick stated. "Just follow this L-shaped passage until you reach a drop-off."

Regina followed the passage until she reached the drop. "I'm here, Rick," she said.

"Good," Rick replied. "Drop down."

Regina dropped down and found that this path led to a dead end. "I did what you said, Rick. I can't go any further now. What next?"

"Keep your voice down," Rick warned her. "Turn around. There should be a grille in front of you."

Regina slowly turned around and saw the grille in the wall. "Yay, another vent opening," she unenthusiastically commented. "Do I have to get past more guards?"

"Actually, you're already at your destination," Rick clarified. "Past this grille is the room with the plans inside."

"Really?" Regina asked excitedly. "Nice! We're so close to being done!"

"Hey!" Rick replied. "As I said before, keep your voice down. There's someone in there."

Regina lowered her volume. "Sorry," she said. She walked up to the vent opening and looked through the grille into the room. Regina saw that the area was square and tiny, with light-brown walls, a tan ceiling, and a white-tiled floor. To the left wall was a gray door. To the right was a dark brown desk with a man sitting behind it, doing some paperwork. In the wall on the other side of the room, there was a black safe.

"That safe must contain the blueprints!" Regina whispered. "Now to figure out how to get to them with that guard in the way..."

"Might I suggest the tranquilizer?" Rick jokingly asked.

"Excellent choice," Regina humorously answered, taking out a peashooter and loading it with a small tranquilizer dart. She put the peashooter in her mouth, moved the end of it through the grille, aimed it at the man's neck, and blew into the tube. The dart instantly flew towards the target.

The man slapped his neck when the dart connected with it. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "Darn mosquitoes!" He examined the affected area of his neck and found a small object. He pulled it out and looked closely at it. "Hey, wait a minute," the guard said. "This isn't a mosquito. Oh, no."

The man immediately knew what the object was. However, the chemicals from the dart have already entered his body. It didn't take long for him to feel the effects of the tranquilizer. "Darn it," he said, as he started to fall into a deep sleep, falling off his chair onto the floor. He was knocked out cold.

"He's down," Regina stated.

"Excellent," Rick said. "Now, go and claim your prize."

Regina moved the grille out of the way, got out of the vent, and put the grille back in. She then checked her surroundings again just to be safe. The safe was a few feet away. She walked up to it. "Um, Rick, how do I open this?"

"Pull out your eye scope, and put it on," Rick replied. "I'm going to run a scan on the lock."

Regina took out a small, cylindrical object, put it in front of her left eye, and aimed it toward the safe. Rick used this eye scope to scan and examine the lock in order to find a successful combination. It took only a few seconds for him to find the correct one, which flashed on his screen.

"I got it!" Rick declared. "The combination is '24-16-30.'"

"Got it," Regina replied, twisting the lock to match the combination. After a few seconds, the safe unlocked, and Regina opened the door. The blueprints to the Timegate were sitting inside.

"I've found them!" Regina exclaimed, grabbing the blueprints, checking them, and safely putting them away. "The first item is ours!"

"Great job, Regina!" Rick replied. "Now, all we have to do is leave. Look to your bottom left. On the wall and next to the corner, there should be a vent. Enter it, and close the opening."

Regina closed the safe door, rushed over to the vent, and unscrewed the grille from the opening. She quickly entered the vent and closed the opening behind her, screwing in the grille. Some guards came in fifteen seconds later, but luckily, Regina was safe and out of sight.

Unfortunately, they saw the unconscious man. Becoming highly suspicious, they opened the safe to check on the blueprints. As they predicted, the blueprints were missing. They immediately sounded the facility alarms.

"Oh, no!" Regina exclaimed, noticing what just happened. "I have to get out of here!"

"Keep your voice down, Regina," Rick instructed. "The men might hear you. Anyway, I found an exit route through the air ducts. Follow my directions, and you should be out soon."

Regina nodded. She took the route Rick gave her, following his directions every step of the way. Eventually, Regina came to a vent opening leading outside of the facility, facing the circular field.

"Okay, Rick," Regina said. "I'm here. Is it safe for me to leave?"

Rick scanned the area. "Yes, I would say so," he replied. "Just watch for anyone that comes out."

Regina exited the vent and looked both ways before crossing the circular field. In a burst of speed, she ran across the field towards the jungle. She made it just before the guards came out of the facility onto the field.

"I'm in the jungle, Rick," Regina declared.

"Good," Rick replied. "Now, you just have to head back to the helicopter."

Regina reached for her compass and used it to get to her destination. She stayed low and avoided making noise. After a while, she finally reached the helicopter, which sat in a small, treeless area.

The male pilot saw her emerge from the trees. "Regina!" he exclaimed. "You're back! Are you ready to go?"

Regina nodded.

The pilot helped Regina into the helicopter and strapped her in. He then returned to his seat, started the vehicle, and grabbed the wheel. The chopper rose into the air, turned in the opposite direction, and flew away from the facility and the jungle, heading for North America.

Regina took out the blueprints to the Timegate and examined them. _Huh,_ she thought. _This looks quite sophisticated._

Regina put away the blueprints and looked towards the afternoon sun. _I'm making progress, Dylan and Paula,_ she thought. _I'm making progress._ She took a well-deserved nap as the chopper flew over Brazil.


	6. On To The Next Item

There was a knock on Rick's front door. He walked up to it and looked through the peephole. He saw that it was Regina. He opened the door. "Nice to see you again!" he said happily.

Regina walked inside. 'The feeling's mutual," she replied, smiling. She took her backpack, unzipped it, took a large piece of paper out, and handed it to Rick. "Here are the blueprints."

Rick took the paper. "Great," he said. "Now, we can start building the Timegate. He looked at the blueprints. "Interesting. According to these blueprints, we need some certain mechanical parts: the initializer and the stabilizer."

Regina scratched her head. "Initializer and stabilizer?" she asked Rick. "The things we collected on our mission on Ibis Island?"

"Yeah," Rick answered.

Regina nodded. She learned from her mission on Ibis Island that the initializer and the stabilizer must be used with any 3rd energy project. Without the initializer, 3rd Energy couldn't be used. Without the stabilizer, 3rd energy couldn't be controlled. "All right," Regina said. "Do the blueprints tell you how to make them?"

"No. There are no instructions for that task."

Regina frowned. "So, what do we do now?"

"I suppose we'll just have to find them." Rick walked over to his computer and used it to access the government's database. He searched for information on the initializer and the stabilizer. He soon found it. "Good news! I have the information we need."

Regina grinned. "Great!" she said. "So, where are these items?"

"The initializer is in a high-tech building in Britain, and the stabilizer is in a nuclear facility in Siberia," Rick replied.

"Why are all of these items so far away from the United States?" Regina inquired.

"I think it's for security reasons," Rick answered.

"How?"

"Well, think about it this way: having too many valuable items in one location isn't a good thing. To fix this, the government hides these items in other top-secret places. That way if one item gets stolen—which is highly unlikely for S.O.R.T., but you never know—it wouldn't be a total loss as the criminals would know nothing of the other items."

"That makes sense."

"So, where do you want to go first?"

"Let's go to England first. I want to save the frigid snow for last. Please make the necessary arrangements for me to go to England tomorrow."

Rick saluted Regina. "Yes, ma'am!"

Regina smiled.

"See you later." Rick waved good-bye.

"Good-bye!" Regina waved back. She grabbed her backpack and headed for the front door.


	7. England - Part One

The chopper flew eastward towards Great Britain. The journey to this country was five hours long. During the trip, Regina thought about Dylan and Paula. She was 33% done with her task. In a few days, Regina would be able to go back in time to save all of the survivors, including Paula. She would be able to save Dylan. She would be able to fix everything so that none of this would ever happen again.

The helicopter passed the coast of England and headed towards the high-tech building in London containing the initializer. In fifteen minutes, the helicopter neared the fenced perimeter of the building. The sight was impressive. The building was enormous and tall, and it had silver bulletproof windows almost everywhere. A sign was on the front wall of the building halfway up to the top. It read "London Tech Industries" in big, green, neon letters.

In contrast, the ground between the building and the fencing was not so marvelous. Barbed wire lined the tops of the fences, and there were searchlights all over the rough, dusty ground. However, they weren't turned on. Guards stood on all four corners of the area, armed with large weapons. Dogs stood by their sides.

_Wow,_ Regina thought, looking at the area surrounding the bottom of the building. _They really went all out with security, just as we predicted. Fortunately, I won't be entering the building from the ground floor._

The helicopter landed quietly onto the roof of the building opposite the high-tech building. Regina was wearing a black, one-piece suit. She exited the helicopter.

"Thanks for dropping me off," Regina said to the pilot.

"You're welcome," the pilot replied, smiling. "I'll wait for you here."

Regina nodded.

"All right, Rick," Regina spoke into her headset. "I'm on top of the building. Now to get to the other side of the building."

"All right," Rick replied. "You know what to do."

Regina took out a modified grappling gun and fired it at the edge of the top of the high-tech building. Instead of hooking onto the edge, the head of the line made contact with the wall and stuck to it, forming a secured zip-line. Then, the gun pulled Regina to the spot where the head of the line latched on. Regina let her feet make contact with the wall. Still holding onto her gun, she walked backwards down the wall as the line extended itself. "I can't believe I'm doing this," Regina said to herself, trying not to look down. As she walked down the building, she looked for an opening into the building. After a minute, she found a circular vent. "Finally."

Regina pulled out a black gun and aimed it at the grille of the vent. She pulled the trigger, and a red beam came out, directly hitting the grille. Regina moved the beam around the edge of the grille, burning metal off in the process. 10 seconds later, the grille was separated from the vent opening and fell inside. "This thing is so cool," Regina commented.

"I'm glad you like it," Rick replied. "In you go."

Regina put away the laser gun and used her legs to push off the wall. She tucked her legs in as she swung towards the vent opening. She safely entered the vent and pushed a button on the grappling gun, causing its line to retract. The vent became a slide as she crawled forward. Regina slid on her stomach all the way into the next area.


	8. England - Part Two

Regina arrived in another vent at the bottom of the slide, tall enough for her to stand up in. The path ahead was very long. She finally came to the end of the path, marked by a square grille on the vent floor in front of her. She pulled out a new black scope Rick gave her and used it to scan the room below her. It seemed to be a place for inventory. No one was in there. "All right, Rick. I'm going into the next room. I'll let you know if I need any help. Until then, keep me posted."

"You got it. I'll be monitoring your surroundings. Good luck."

"Thanks. Over and out." Regina grabbed the edge of the grille and flung it upward. She went through the opening and landed on the floor below. The room was dark and cold, but there seemed to be gray shelves filled with boxes surrounding Regina. She could barely see a thing, so she turned on her light source. She found a door in one of the corners of the square room and noticed the shelves. "All right," Regina said to herself, "let's see if there's anything that I can use in here." She checked all of the shelves in the room. She found a crowbar, a first-aid kit, and some ammo for her weapons. "Nice," she commented, examining the stuff she found before putting everything in her inventory. "Okay, now to leave." She turned towards the door, walked up to it, scanned the area beyond it, and opened it.

There was a long hallway beyond the door, leading up to another door. A perpendicular hallway formed an intersection with this corridor and branched off to the right. Surprisingly, no guards were present.

Regina walked past the perpendicular hallway and went up to the door at the end of the hallway. It was white and metallic with black edges. Next to the door was an electronic swipe card lock. _Man!_ she thought. _I don't have the card. I need to head through this door. I'm going to have to look for it._ Regina walked back to the perpendicular hallway. She looked down the corridor and found that there was a long path to another door. She moved quickly but quietly down the corridor. She scanned the next area behind the door and went in. There was a dead end on her left, but on her right was a path to a door on the left wall. The left wall was lined with medium-sized glass windows. On the other side, there was a room with guard sitting at his desk, facing the windows. Regina hugged the wall in front of her, crouched, and stealthily moved under the windows to the door on the other side of the wall. When she passed the windows she stood up, drew her tranquilizer gun, and quickly entered the room.

She aimed at the man sitting down. He immediately stood up upon noticing Regina's entrance. She fired a dart, but it missed the man, hitting a computer screen and cracking it. The man pulled out a weapon and fired it at Regina. She quickly rolled to the side, avoiding the line of bullets following her. She put away her tranquilizer gun and pulled out her trademark pistol, firing several shots at the man. He dashed out of the way, taking cover in an alcove near him. Regina quickly moved towards the side, faced the alcove and fired at the man. He got out of the alcove and ran to the side, shooting at Regina as he moved. Regina took cover behind his desk.

_Darn it!_ she thought. _How can I get him?_ She thought of an idea. The man decided to check under the desk to see if Regina was there. Regina waited for the man to near the desk. When his legs were behind the gap under the desk, she slid to the side and fired at them. The man went down with a shout of pain. Regina then walked up to the man and hit him hard across the face with the butt of her weapon. The man was unconscious.

She got up and checked all of the desk drawers. In one of them, she found a silver card with some writing on the front and a black stripe on the back. _Nice! This could be the key to that room!_ Regina put away the card and checked her surroundings. No one else was around. _Thank goodness there weren't any alarms in here._ Regina left the area and entered the previous hallway. The coast was clear. She backtracked all the way to the door with the electronic swipe card lock. She got out her card and swiped the card into the lock. There was a beep, and the light of the lock changed from red to green. The doors quickly slid open. Regina walked into the next room, the doors closing behind her.

This room was a square area bordered by white walls. It had a black, tiled floor. A large, white desk stood in the center of the room, and there were shelves and screens everywhere on the walls, with cameras pointed at various locations in the building. It seemed to be a security room. No one, to Regina's surprise, was in the room. "That's odd," she remarked. "No guards?" She walked up to the desk and examined it. There was nothing on top. She checked the desk drawers. She found a bronze key in one of them. "I wonder what this is for. It could come in handy." She put the key in her pocket and continued to raid the desk. Finding nothing else useful, she closed the drawers. She looked around the room and spotted the shelves. "I'll check in these." Regina walked over to some of the shelves and opened them. She found a white card. "Another key?" Regina put the card in her pocket and resumed her search. She found some pistol clips, some sub-machine gun clips, and a piece of paper with a numbered code on it. "Hmmm, what's this? A code? Could be useful..."She took all of the clips and the code, leaving everything else untouched.

Regina continued her search for useful items. By the time she finished checking the last shelf, she heard distant footsteps behind the entrance door. Regina quickly turned towards the door and used her scope. Beyond the door, in the hallway, there was a tall, skinny man walking towards the door. He wore a security uniform composed of a black police officer cap, a brown, buttoned shirt with a yellow badge on it, a black belt, and black pants. He was on his way to the security room.

Regina had to act quickly, or she would be caught. She looked around the room, but there were no doors. She quickly checked her map to find out where to go next. She found an exit on the ceiling: a vent. Regina jumped up to reach the grille of the vent, but it was just beyond her reach. She saw the desk, pulled it until it was under the ceiling and quickly mounted it. She jumped up and grabbed the grille. She pulled it open downwards and dropped onto the floor. The grille hung onto the vent, but the vent was now open. The security guard was getting much closer to the door. Regina mounted the desk again and grabbed the spot where the grille was detached, hanging from the edge. She quickly pulled herself up into the vent and closed the grille shut.

Five seconds later, the guard entered the room. He pulled up a chair from a nearby wall, went to the other side of the desk, and sat down in his chair. He noticed that his desk was shifted a foot from it's original position. "That's odd," he declared. "Did someone come in here?"

Regina froze in fear.

The guard shrugged his shoulders. "Must have been a custodian cleaning up in here."

_Sure, let's go with that,_ Regina commented, chuckling. She checked her map, turned around, and went the other way down the vent. She came to a dead end with a vent opening. She checked her map and scanned the area below her. She then opened the grille, went through it, and dropped onto the ground, landing on her toes.

Regina was in a hallway with light blue walls and a white floor. She looked behind and in front of her. No one was in sight. In front of her, several feet away, there was an elevator. Regina walked up to it and pressed the button shaped like an up arrow. It took fifteen seconds for the elevator to come to her floor. When its doors opened, Regina walked inside. The brown elevator had mirrors on three of its walls, and it played elevator music. The elevator buttons were shiny and colorful. Regina pressed a button, and the silver doors closed. The elevator started going up. When it arrived several floors higher, its doors slowly opened.

Regina faced a new corridor. There were crates scattered on the white floor against the white walls. Right in the middle of the hallway were two guards talking to each other, not noticing that the elevator was opened. Regina saw them and ducked behind a nearby crate. She stuck her head upwards and glanced at the guards again. She ducked and equipped her tranquilizer gun. She stuck her head out again and aimed the gun at one of the guard's necks. She fired, and a dart exited the barrel of the weapon and hit the guard's neck. He fell to the ground. The other guard flinched in alarm, not knowing what just happened, and crouched to the man's side to see what was wrong with him. Regina pointed her gun towards his neck and fired again. A direct hit occurred, and the second man fell to the ground. Regina scanned the place for any more guards. She ran past the crates to the door on the other side of the corridor. She opened the door and entered.

Regina found herself in a high-tech room. Computers and buttons lined most of the white walls, and the tables had flat devices on them that projected holograms. Up on the ceiling was a camera, monitoring the room. No one occupied this place.

Regina saw the camera and quickly hid behind a computer. _Darn,_ she thought. _Did it see me?_ Fortunately, the camera was not facing her direction. _Whew. I need to be more careful._

Regina took out a new gun and fired a projectile at the camera. The projectile latched onto the camera's surface and sent out an electrical charge, short-circuiting the device. It was rendered useless.

Regina put away the gun and walked across the room, moving towards the door on the other side. After a brief scan, Regina opened the door, entering a white corridor that led to an elevator. She headed towards the elevator and saw a sign on it. "NOT IN SERVICE," it read.

"Darn it!" Regina shouted in frustration. "What do I do now?" She thought of an idea. After five minutes passed, she had one. It was very risky, but there wasn't another way up. "I can't believe I'm doing this," Regina remarked. She got out a small, orange rectangular object and put it on the ground. She pulled out a remote and started using it, pressing a few buttons. The object extended upwards a few feet and bent itself at a right angle towards the elevator doors, wedging its end in the crack between them. Regina pressed another button on the remote. Two poles emerged sideways from the end of the orange object and suddenly forced the two doors open. The object reverted to its original state and remained motionless.

Regina picked up the device, put it and the remote away, and looked through the elevator. She faced a dark blue, empty, cold elevator shaft that went up and down. In the center was a long, wired rope. "Good," Regina said to herself. "I can use this." She jumped towards the rope and grabbed it. She wrapped her legs around the rope and started climbing upwards. She tried not to look below herself as she ascended the rope.

Twenty minutes passed. Regina was fifteen feet below her destination when she heard a loud thump from above. She glanced upwards and saw a stationary elevator, seemingly not in service. However, the elevator started whirring and slowly started coming back down, heading towards Regina.

"Oh, shoot!" Regina exclaimed as she noticed the elevator accelerating towards her. If it got to her, it would fracture her skull, smash her downwards, and possibly crush her. She had to act fast or else she would be surely be dead. Regina looked down below her. Going back down would take too long, and the elevator would plow right into her before she got back to the entrance. Her only option was to get out of the way from where she was now. Regina looked around for a few seconds. She found a vent behind her. This could be her way to safety.

The elevator was moving faster. Regina turned on the rope to face the vent. With a powerful kick, she forced the grille open, knocking it into the vent. The elevator was thirty feet away from Regina. Within seconds, it would collide into her, smacking her to the bottom of the shaft. Regina put her legs into the vent and used the rope to push herself into the vent. The elevator missed her arms by an inch as she entered the vent. The elevator continued downwards, all the way to the bottom of the shaft, stopping on the first floor.

Regina was safe for now. She rolled over to a prone position and pushed herself up to a kneeling position. "That was _too_ close!" she uttered.

Rick saw everything that happened. "Regina!" he said. "Thank goodness you're alive!"

"My thoughts exactly!"

"Are you going to climb up again?"

"There's no point in going back down, and this vent has a dead end, so I don't see why not."

"All right, then."

Regina crawled forward towards the vent opening. She squatted and leapfrogged forward, grabbing the rope again. She quickly resumed her ascent, soon reaching her destination. She pulled out the retractable orange object and stuck it into the crack between the two doors blocking the floor. She used her remote on it once more to force the doors open. Regina noticed the elevator coming up again, but she was already safe before it could hit her again. She saw it go past her up to the top floor. _Good luck trying to hit me again,_ she thought.

Regina turned her attention to the hallway behind her. It was another white one, and it led to a white door with a lock. Regina walked up to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. _Great, another dead end,_ she thought. _A locked door is just what I need right now._ Regina thought about what to do next. She then remembered the key she found in the security room several floors down. She took out the key, put it in the lock, and twisted it. The door unlocked. She opened the door and went inside.


	9. England - Part Three

Regina entered another room for storing inventory. It was bigger and cleaner than the last one, and a white light illuminated the place. Regina saw two shelves, one on each wall on either side of her. In front of her was a wall with a door. She began raiding the shelves and found a silver key. _I wonder what this is for,_ she thought, putting the key in her pocket. She finished her search and quietly left the room.

Regina entered another corridor and froze. Someone was standing a few feet away from her, but his back was turned. He had a sub-machine gun in his hands and appeared to be watching the path in front of him. Luckily, he didn't hear Regina when she opened the door.

_Oh, shoot!_ Regina thought. _I need to get rid of him._ She wanted to use her tranquilizer gun, but she didn't have any more darts. She then remembered her crowbar. _That's it! I'll use this!_

Regina took out her crowbar, sneaked up behind the guard, and whacked him on the head hard. He grunted and fell forward onto the floor, unconscious. _This thing's nice,_ Regina thought, swinging the weapon around before putting it away. She went to the door at the end of the hallway.

When Regina closed the door behind her, she found a catwalk in front of her. Regina looked below the catwalk and found that she was above a conference area, with five English men below, sitting around a large table. They were talking, but Regina wasn't interested in listening to their conversation. She crossed the catwalk into another hallway. She reached the end of the hallway and turned left. A locked door was at the end of the path, containing a silver keyhole. Regina used the silver key she found and opened the door. She faced a blue corridor, filled with red laser traps jutting out in all directions, blocking her path. She must be getting close to the vault.

_The lasers of the trap don't look that hard to get around,_ she thought. Regina readied herself and headed straight for the lasers. She rolled under the first one, jumped over the second one, cartwheeled past the third one, jumped on and off the left wall to pass the fourth and fifth ones, performed a side aerial over the sixth one, did a lateral midair twist to avoid touching the seventh, eighth, and ninth ones, and flipped over the last one.

At last, she was past the lasers and in front of a golden elevator with chrome up and down arrow buttons on a silver rectangle latched to the wall. A white card lock was above the elevator buttons. Regina swiped the white card she found in the security room through the lock. It beeped. Regina pressed the up button, and the elevator doors opened instantly. She stepped inside and found that the interior of the elevator was golden, except for the white carpet on the floor. She saw that there were only two buttons to press: one that lead straight to the vault and one that led back down to this floor. She pressed the former.

The elevator went up to the vault and opened its doors. Regina was in a large, white room. The vault was just in front of her, and its door was also white. Next to it was an electronic numbered code lock with a red light positioned above the keypad.

"This has to be it!"Regina commented. "This must be the vault! I can't believe I'm almost done!" She walked up to the vault door and saw the lock. "Darn it!" she shouted. "Another lock?"

Rick heard her words. "Regina," he spoke. "What's wrong?"

"I'm at the vault, but I need a code to unlock the door to get inside."

"Use your other scope, and let me examine the lock."

Regina used the other scope she had and targeted the lock. Rick ran a scan on it. However, the scan failed after ten seconds. "I can't believe this," he stated.

"What is it?" Regina asked.

"I can't find the code for this lock."

"What? You can't?"

"No. It's a specialized lock that prevents any electromagnetic signal from going anywhere near it. Since the scope emits electromagnetic waves..."

"...you can't scan the lock. Darn it. Any other ideas?"

"Not for the moment. Sorry."

Regina sighed. "Great," she complained. "Wait. Hold on..." She pulled out the piece of paper she snagged from the security room, stared at the numbered code on it, and read the code. "'3498756012.'"

"What?" Rick asked, not understanding what Regina said.

"'3498756012.' The code is '3498756012!'"

"Really? How did you figure that out?"

"I grabbed a piece of paper from the security room that had a numbered code on it. It's a good thing I found it. Now to enter the code."

Regina inputted the code into the lock, which made various beeping sounds with every key press. The light on the lock changed from red to green. After five seconds, the vault door slowly opened, revealing a small room with a table inside against the wall parallel to the vault door. This table had a large glass tube in it with a smaller green tube inside.

"I got the initializer!" Regina shouted in joy. "All right!"

"Yep," Rick agreed, grinning. "It's ours. Now, grab it, and get out of there."

"Right."

"Wait. Don't forget to-"

Before Rick could finish his sentence, Regina already rushed into the vault with excitement, eager to grab the tube and leave. Unfortunately, this was a fatal flaw for her. Regina hastily stepped into the vault without scanning the inside of the vault first. Had she done so in the first place, she would have found hidden cameras on the ceiling of the vault. These detected whether anyone who entered the vault had a badge on that showed their employee status of the place. Regina lacked an employee badge, so the cameras noticed that, sending signals to nearby alarms, causing them to go off just when Regina picked up the tube. "Whoa, what the heck!?" she shouted.

"Now, look what you've done!" Rick told her.

Regina quickly realized what happened. She forgot to scan the vault for alarms before entering it. "Darn it! Darn it! Darn it!" She was upset with her negligence. "How can I be so careless?" She looked behind her and saw the elevator door. It immediately closed, and the elevator went down to the lower floor. "Oh, no! Shoot!"

Rick noticed the elevator leaving and tried to find another way out. His efforts were futile. "Regina, I can't seem to find another way out of here!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Regina put the tube in her inventory and buried her hands in her face, trying to come up with a plan.

"Hold on. You might not be able to _find_ a way out of here, but maybe you can _make_ a way out of here."

Regina raised her head. "What do you mean?"

"Break out of this room."

_Of course!_ Regina thought. She exited the vault, which quickly sealed itself behind her. If she had spent a second more in there, she would have been trapped. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, turning around and seeing the closed vault. She looked to the walls by her sides and checked her map of the building. According to it, she could make a possible exit by going through the left wall. Regina grabbed an explosive device, planted it on the wall, and ran back to the other wall. In five seconds, the charge exploded, obliterating the wall. The newly formed hole revealed a closet with a door. Regina saw the door and scrambled for it. She quickly opened it and entered the other side.

She found herself in the corner of an L-shaped hallway, with four guards on one end talking to each other. At this point, it didn't matter whether or not Regina was spotted. She needed to leave as soon as possible. They saw her as soon as she left the room. Regina equipped her sub-machine guns and fired at all of the guards, hitting three of them in the legs. The last one ran towards her down the hallway to her right, firing his weapon. Regina sprinted forward down the corridor in front of her. The guard rounded the corner and continued to run after her, rapidly firing at her. Regina looked behind her and fired her guns at the man chasing her. The bullets pierced his legs. He collapsed onto the ground, screaming in pain. Something flew out of his pocket, sailed past Regina, and landed several feet ahead of him. Regina continued to run, not stopping for anything.

She soon came to the end of the hallway, leading to a dead end. There was a door on the wall next to her. It had a golden keyhole. Regina checked her pockets but didn't have the proper key with her. "Shoot!" she swore. She looked back into the hallway and found an object a several feet away from her, glittering on the floor. "What is that?" She ran to it and picked it up. "Hey! A golden key! How convenient! I must have missed this while I was running." Regina returned to the door and tried the key on the lock. The door opened, and she quickly entered the room, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Regina was in another ordinary closet with shelves and a vent on the ceiling. Having no time to check the shelves, Regina jumped for the vent and quickly detached the grille, sending it to the ground. She jumped up towards the vent again, grabbed the edge, and pulled herself up. She looked at her map again, bringing up a section of the ventilation system she was in. Regina found a possible route and quickly navigated her way through the vents to the shaft above the first floor. She found a grille, removed it, and dropped through the opening to the floor. She saw the front doors of the building on her left and ran for them.

Regina burst through the doors, alarming the dogs and guards in the area outside at dusk. She took out an explosive charge and threw it at the large, silver, locked doors ahead. It latched on and exploded, but the doors did not get damaged. Apparently, they were far too strong. "What the heck!?" Regina shouted as the guards and dogs looked at her.

Regina's fight-or-flight response kicked in. She ran in one direction away from the two pairs of guards and dogs, not caring for the searchlights targeting her. She ran around the dusty ground, the guards and dogs running her down. She nearly tripped a few times but still managed to keep her balance. The guards and dogs from all four corners of the area quickly cornered her behind the back of the building. She hugged the fence behind her as the guards and dogs surrounded her.

"Well, well, well," one of the guards said. "Look what we have here! An intruder!"

"I _hate_ intruders!" another guard shouted in a gravelly tone.

"What should we do with her?" the third guard said.

"I say we let the dogs decide," the last guard suggested. All four dogs barked ferociously, foaming at their mouths.

"Help!" Regina screamed.

Just then, there was the sound of moving helicopter rotors, and a light from above flashed down on Regina. She looked up and saw a descending helicopter with someone at the controls waving to her.

Regina smiled as she instantly recognized the man as the pilot who dropped her off earlier.

A ladder dangled down the side of the helicopter. It got close to Regina. "Grab on!" he shouted.

Regina grabbed onto the ladder, and the helicopter ascended.

"Hey!" the first guard shouted. "She's getting away!"

"After her!" the second guard ordered.

The dogs barked and readied themselves to pounce on Regina. Regina saw them and scurried up the ladder. The dogs ran and leaped up towards Regina but missed her—and the ladder—by a few inches. Regina was out of harm's way. _Thank god,_ she thought, breathing a sigh of relief.

The end of the ladder neared the helicopter as the vehicle hovered over the area with the frustrated guards and dogs. Regina finally climbed into the helicopter.

"I thought you might need my help!" the pilot declared, smiling. "You were almost dog food!"

"Good timing!" Regina replied, beaming.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she answered, immensely grateful for his appearance. "Just fine."

"Great," the pilot responded. "Let's go home."

Regina nodded.

The chopper flew out of London and headed straight for America, the distant shouts of the irritated guards and dogs fading behind it as it flew into the dusky sky.


	10. Now To Get The Last Item

There was a knock at Rick's door. He saw that Regina was at the door and let her in. "How was the helicopter ride back home?" he asked her, smiling.

"It was great," she replied. "Better than the resort at London Tech Industries."

Rick laughed at Regina's joke. "So, let's see the initializer!" Rick told Regina.

Regina opened her backpack and took out the large tube. It seemed to glow.

Rick nodded. "Excellent. Great job, Regina."

Regina grinned. "Thank you, Rick." She then changed the subject. "How is the 3rd Energy research going?"

"It's going quite well. I've learned a great deal of it so far."

"That's good. And, how is building the Timegate going?"

"I'm about 66% done with the project."

"Great. We'll be able to save Dylan and Paula in no time!" Regina couldn't help but smile.

"I agree." Rick smiled back.

"Now to get the last item: the stabilizer."

"Indeed. Are you ready to perform the next step of 'Operation: Rescue Dylan and Paula'?"

"Heck, yeah!" Regina did a little cheer.

Rick beamed. "All right! When do you want to head to Siberia to get the stabilizer?"

"Tomorrow."

"Wow. Three straight days of scavenger hunting?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to take a break?"

"I can't rest until Dylan and Paula are safe. Besides, it's fun to travel the world!" Regina winked at Rick.

Rick nodded. "All right. I'll make the necessary preparations."

"Thank you, my good man."

"See you later."

"Good-bye." Regina grabbed her backpack and left Rick's apartment.

Rick couldn't help but admire her determination to save her friends, a trait that a certain comrade of his didn't have on Ibis Island. "What a woman," he thought to himself, grinning. "What a woman."


	11. Siberia - Part One

The chopper arrived in Siberia at 10:00 A.M. and stopped near the facility housing the stabilizer. The pilot landed the vehicle in the snow. Regina thanked the pilot for his help and stepped onto the snow.

Regina wore a special suit that regulated her body temperature, insulated her head, hands, and feet from the cold snow, and melted ice upon contact. _Thank goodness Rick made this suit and these boots, so I wouldn't freeze my butt off here,_ she thought. She also wore a pair of special goggles that blocked out UV rays from the sun reflected off the snow, preventing her from getting snow-blind. Overall, she was well prepared for the freezing weather.

There was a down-side to doing this mission, though. Rick could not communicate with Regina at any time for two reasons. The first reason was that Regina was on the other side of the world, far, far away from North America. Rick's communication technology could not work from that distance. The second reason was that since the facility was secret, no signals from outside technology can get anywhere near it. This prevented Regina from gaining access to a map of the facility, as well as eliminating the chance of her using any of her gadgets. She was going to have to locate the stabilizer by herself. _Darn it, _she thought._ No outside help, not even from my gadgets. I guess I'm performing this task solo._

The pilot promised to wait for her in this spot. "Remember to use the tracking device Rick gave you in order to find me," he said, pointing to the tracker on the back of his seat.

Regina nodded. She looked around herself and saw nothing but falling snow and the thick, numerous mounds of it on the ground. She eventually spotted the secret facility but saw that it was a mile away. Getting there would take some time. _All right, let's do this,_ she thought. She said good-bye to the pilot and ran towards the facility, her boots making a crunching sound with each footstep she took.

After fifteen minutes of jogging, Regina finally arrived at the front of the secret facility, ducking behind a nearby mound of snow to avoid being seen. She examined it thoroughly. The building was gray, rectangular, and medium-sized. It had three floors, and a tall wall surrounded it on all four sides. The facility looked quite intimidating for its size. Regina noticed green fumes coming out of the back of the building and deduced that a few nuclear reactors operated there.

The entrance to the building was a gate in the front wall, guarded by two sentries with one on each side of it. They held sub-machine guns. Regina saw them and pulled out her tranquilizer gun. She aimed it and fired at the guard to the left of the gate, followed by the guard on the other side of the gate. Down they both fell. She left the mound of snow and went up to the gate, which needed a key. Regina walked up to the sleeping guards and checked their pockets for the key to the gate. The second guard had it in his back pocket. She relieved him of his bronze key and used it to open the gate. The gate opened just a crack, making a loud, creaking noise. Regina pushed the gate more, drew her handgun, and went past the wall.

The snowy perimeter of the building was thankfully unoccupied, so Regina put away her gun. She saw the front doors of the building several yards away; however, she couldn't go that way. The doors needed a swipe card to unlock. Instead, Regina went to the air vent several feet to the right of the doors and opened it. She entered, closing it behind her.

Regina navigated the vent until she reached a dark closet. She entered the room quietly, drawing her pistol. After checking her surroundings, she put away her gun and scanned the shelves in the closet. She found some night-vision goggles and a first-aid kit, putting them away in her inventory. She finished her hunt for items and left the room soundlessly.

Regina found herself in a gray corridor with multiple doors on each side. A nearly identical one intersected it perpendicularly, forming an area shaped like a cross. Elevators were at the ends of the perpendicular hallway. At the end of the first hallway was a door leading to the nuclear reactors outside. On the other end were the front doors of the facility on Regina's left. This area seemed to be the first floor. Regina deduced that she was going to have to check all of the rooms on all three floors in order to find that stabilizer.

Guards patrolled the two hallways in the cross-shaped area. Fortunately, they weren't facing Regina. When their backs were turned, Regina fired tranquilizer darts at them, effectively incapacitating them. She turned to the front doors of the facility. A door was near the entrance. Regina went up to it and entered the room.

This room was a small office with brown walls and a blue floor. There were file cabinets against the wall opposite the door. A desk was to the right of the door, and a fat, Russian man was sitting behind it, but he was sleeping. Regina scanned the room but didn't find the stabilizer. She left quietly, being careful not to wake the sleeping man.

_Let's try the next room,_ Regina thought. She went down the hallway, past the first room she entered earlier. She found another door to her left and opened it. Another closet was here. She looked inside the shelves and cupboards in the room but found nothing of use to her, leaving the room afterwards.

Regina checked the rest of the rooms on the first floor but still couldn't locate the tube. She decided to move up a floor, so she went to one of the elevators of the first floor and used it to go to the second floor.

The second floor was nearly identical to the first floor. This time, the placement of the rooms was different, and four guards patrolled the hallways, two in each one. As soon as the elevator door opened, Regina stepped out and started firing. She hit two of the guards with tranquilizer darts. The other two noticed her appearance and started firing at her. Regina moved out of the way and took out her pistol. She fired at the two remaining guards and managed to hit one of them, subduing him. The other one ducked behind a hallway. Regina walked up closely with her gun aimed towards the hiding spot of the last guard. Unfortunately, the man caught her by surprise, sticking part of his body out from behind the end of the corridor and rapidly firing several shots at Regina. One of his shots hit Regina in her left arm.

"OWWW!" Regina cried out, dropping her weapon. The guard saw that he shot her in the arm and started quickly advancing towards her, keeping his weapon drawn. When the man was about to fire, Regina ignored her pain, picked up her weapon, darted to the side, and fired at the man, missing him. The guard went past her as she dodged him. He turned around and fired several more shots at Regina, nearing her again. Regina performed a rolling dive under the bullets towards the man and executed a sweeping kick, causing him to trip and hit the floor hard. He cried out in pain. Regina had enough of him at this point and walked up to him. He drew his weapon, only to receive a roundhouse kick to the face, becoming unconscious immediately.

After subduing him, Regina looked at her arm. "Ow," she said in discomfort. The bullet was not in her arm, but it left a small hole upon leaving. The area was considerably bleeding, but thankfully, there were no signs of a bone fracture. _This hurts so much!_ she thought. She wondered how she was going to continue her mission. She then remembered the first-aid kit she snagged earlier. Regina took out the kit and opened it. She took out a tourniquet and wrapped it around her arm above the wound. She applied some hydrogen peroxide to the wound and put antiseptic ointment over the peroxide. She took out some gauze, placed it on the wound, and wrapped a bandage around it to finish healing the injury.

"That's somewhat better," Regina commented, examining her arm. She swallowed her pain, looked around herself, and saw several doors, waiting to be opened. "All right, let's do this!" she declared. She checked the rest of the rooms on the second floor, without any luck. _On to the third floor,_ she thought, taking an elevator to the last floor.

The last floor was shaped like a giant tic-tac-toe board. Eight guards patrolled all four hallways. _There are more guards every time I advance a floor,_ Regina wondered, spotting the guards. _I must be getting closer._ All of the sentries saw Regina inside the elevator when it opened and readied themselves to shoot her. Regina put on some sunglasses, took out a flash bang, and threw it towards the guards, exploding on contact with the floor. There was a sudden, large, bright flash, blinding all of men in the area. Regina darted towards the men, and with a series of lightning-fast kicks and punches, she knocked all of them out, rendering them unconscious right before the flash dissipated.

"Heck, yeah!" Regina cheered, proud of what she just did. She brought her attention back to the mission and decided to check the perimeter of the floor before heading to the center in order to do a thorough search. She went through all of the rooms surrounding the center of the floor, shooting and incapacitating anyone in her way. Again, she couldn't find the tube in any of these rooms.

Regina headed towards the center of the third floor. This was the only area left in the facility to check. A large, dark gray, metallic door blocked her way inside, accompanied by an electronic lock next to it. Regina used her stun gun on the lock, and the door slid upwards, revealing a dark room. Regina put on her night-vision goggles and turned them on, scanning the room. She found a safe several feet away from the door. She walked up to it and repeatedly turned the combination lock on it. After several attempts of finding the correct combination of the lock, the safe door clicked and opened. Regina swung the door aside and saw the stabilizer inside, against the wall. She carefully removed the tube from the safe, moved it closer to her, and inspected it. "At last, I finally have all three items!" she delightfully stated. "Dylan and Paula, here I come!"

Right after Regina finished her last sentence, the entire tube disintegrated, leaving green and white dust in its wake. "What the heck!?" Regina shouted. The lights in the room suddenly turned on, much to Regina's surprise. She then heard a man laughing behind her, turning around only to find a big, burly, Russian man staring directly at her, with two smaller guards standing by his sides, with weapons pointed at her. He spoke in a gruff voice. "I see we have an unwelcome guest," he said.

Regina froze in fear. She couldn't believe that she was caught..._again._ "Shoot!" she exclaimed, realizing that she just fell into a trap.

The man noted Regina's exclamation. "Surprising, isn't it?" he asked her.

Regina put her goggles away and raised her arms to her head, exhibiting her surrender. The two guards ran to her and stood by her sides, guns still pointed at her.

"That's much better," the big man said with a thick Russian accent. "I'm glad I thought of this trap. Catching intruders has never been more hilarious than this." He paused to laugh. "Now, Miss. If you would be so kind to come with me."

Regina walked up to the man, arms still raised. The guards followed her, keeping their weapons drawn. When Regina was next to the man, he violently pushed her into the hallway, almost causing her to lose her balance. He overtook her and walked to the elevator, motioning the guards to make her follow him. When they all entered the elevator, the Russian man took out a key, stuck it in a keyhole under the elevator buttons, and turned the key, revealing a secret panel located further below the buttons. This panel contained two extra up and down buttons. The man pushed the down button, and the elevator descended. After thirty seconds, the doors opened, showing an underground area in the facility with brown hallways and a gray floor.

_I didn't know this was here,_ Regina thought. The man stepped out of the elevator. The guards pushed Regina forwards out of the elevator, nearly making her trip. She walked behind the big, Russian man, followed by the two guards. They walked down the corridor and made a right onto another corridor. They made another right onto the next hallway and made a left onto another hallway. At the end of this hallway was a brown, metallic door with a number key electronic lock next to it.

During the trip towards the metallic door, Regina decided to have a little conversation with the Russian man to lighten the mood. "So," she started, trying to smile, "what's your name?"

The man gave her a puzzled look. "My name is of no concern to you," he responded. He paused, looking away. "But, if you must know, I am named 'Sergei,' named after my great-grandfather 'The Great Sergei,' who fought in World War II, bringing great honor to this country and my family."

"I see," Regina replied. "'Sergei.' What a nice name."

"Thank you," Sergei said.

"My name is Regina, if you wanted to know."

"Whatever."

"So, what's your family like? Do you guys spend a lot of time together?"

"Shut up. I no longer wish to talk to you. I don't like speaking to intruders so much."

"Are you sure? Because we could really get to know each other well-"

"SHUT UP!" Sergei shouted right next to Regina's face, almost shattering her right eardrum. "You are my prisoner. When I tell you to do something, you do it! Understand?"

"I understand," Regina weakly replied, no longer smiling.

"Good," Sergei said. "Now, zip it!"

When they all arrived at the brown door with the electronic lock, Sergei typed in a code and the door slid open sideways. A hallway appeared, lined with rows of empty jail cells on both sides. Sergei and the others walked all the way to the end and stopped. Sergei turned to his right. A jail cell at the end of the hallway greeted him. Sergei opened the door to the cell and pointed at the inside of the cell. "Here you go, _Miss Regina_," he stated mockingly.

Regina looked inside the cell. The walls were dirty, and the sheets on the bed looked as if they hadn't been washed in months. There were cobwebs near and on the ceiling, and the gray floor had soot scattered all over it. Someone must have built a fire in here.

"Ew," Regina commented. "This is definitely no five-star hotel. May I request a better room?"

Sergei and his guards had enough of Regina's annoying commentary. "Get in there!" Sergei replied. They all pushed her into the room and closed the jail door, locking it. She tripped and landed on the floor, face-down.

"Ow!" Regina said, grabbing her left arm when it made contact with the floor.

"Enjoy your stay, Miss," Sergei said to Regina, with a naughty look. He then let out an evil laugh and walked down the hallway, laughing the whole way back to the entrance of the jail center. The two guards followed him out of the place, closing the door behind them.

Regina slowly stood up, dusting herself off. She walked to the bed and sat on it, feeling incredibly hopeless. She looked around the cell one more time to find a way out, only to end up in failure again. She buried her hands in her face, grieving over her misfortune. _So close,_ she thought. _So close..._


	12. Siberia - Part Two

Sergei used the elevator to return to the first floor. He went to the door leading to the nuclear reactors at the back of the building. This area was larger than the facility, with a tall, brown fence surrounding it. Three large nuclear reactors stood in the center, supplying power to the facility. Several Russian men, wearing large, white outfits that covered all of their bodies except their faces, stood around them stationed at computers, keeping the reactors cool. Another Russian man was standing near the entrance of this area, leaning against the wall and sleeping.

Sergei walked up this man and violently smashed his fist against the wall. "Hey!" he shouted in Russian. "Dmitri! Wake up!"

Dmitri quickly woke up with a jerk. He was disoriented and rather drowsy. "Yes, Boss?" he asked Sergei, speaking in the same language as him.

"Why are you not at your station?" Sergei inquired. "That is your job, is it not?"

"Well," Dmitri replied, "I was tired from working all of these long shifts, so I took a little break."

"Ah, so you decided to just take a little break on your own during work, eh?" Sergei mocked him, raising his arms. "Great!"

"Yes, sir!" Dmitri replied with a smile, oblivious to Sergei's sarcasm.

Sergei smacked Dmitri upside his head hard. "Fool. Get back to work! I better not see you sleeping on the job again, and make sure you keep those reactors cool!"

"Yes, sir!" Dmitri hurried back over to his post and resumed working.

"Moron," Sergei commented, turning towards the door and going back inside the building.

Dmitri worked for fifteen minutes, operating the computer in front of him. He started to feel sleepy again. "So tired," he flatly said. He checked his watch, which showed that it was 11:45 a.m. "Sergei told me not to sleep on the job, but he works us so hard!" He looked towards the door to the building, checking to see if Sergei had left. "Well, he's not here right now. Maybe I can rest for fifteen minutes..." He lied down in the snow and dozed off. Everyone else in the area was too busy with work to notice him sleeping on the ground.

An hour elapsed. Dmitri was supposed to keep one of the reactors cool but was too busy catching up on his sleep. During his nap, the temperature in the reactor slowly started to rise, reaching a level just beyond the normal limit.

Another hour passed. Everyone in the room still didn't notice the sleeping Russian man on the ground. They were ordered to stay at their stations and watch the other reactors, not allowing distractions to get in their way. The temperature in Dmitri's reactor rose again, reaching a higher, more dangerous level.

After that point, it wasn't long before someone finally noticed Dmitri taking a nap in the snow. He left his post, walked up to Dmitri, and tried to wake him up, poking him in the shoulder. "Dmitri!" the man said. "Wake up!"

Dmitri did not move. The man tried harder. "Dmitri!" he shouted, shaking him back and forth. "Wake up!"

Dmitri still didn't move. He was one heavy sleeper. The man tried even harder this time. "Dmitri!" he yelled, kicking him in the back. "Wake up!"

Dmitri woke up in surprise, quickly grabbed his back, and stood up. "Ow!" he shouted in pain. "What is it, Mikhail?"

"You're supposed to be working," Mikhail answered. "Why aren't you working?"

Dmitri was still drowsy. "Too...tired.," he responded.

"Get back to work!" Mikhail ordered. He saw the temperature level of Dmitri's reactor. "Fool! You let this thing get too hot! Get it back down to normal level fast!"

"Hmmm? Yeah, sure, okay." Dmitri walked up to the computer of the reactor and worked again. However, at this point, he was so drowsy that he didn't even know what he was doing. He inputted several wrong commands into the computer, making the temperature problem even worse.

Mikhail watched what he was doing. "What are you doing!?" he shouted. "You're making things worse!" He walked up to the computer to attempt to correct the problem, but Dmitri wouldn't let him near the computer, pushing him away.

"I got this," Dmitri stated, still drowsy. "I don't need any help." He typed in more wrong commands into the computer, escalating the severity of the situation by raising the temperatures of all three reactors.

"Fool!" Mikhail replied. "You do not know what you are doing! Let me fix this!" He walked up to the computer again, but Dmitri pushed him away once more, causing him to fall in the snow.

"I said to let me do this!" Dmitri answered, irritated. He put some more incorrect commands into the computer. At this point, the temperature of all of the reactors got so high that a nuclear meltdown was inevitable. Sirens started going off around the facility, alerting everyone in the vicinity.

Mikhail jumped at the sound of the sirens, scared for his life. Dmitri still didn't seem too aware of his surroundings. "Did I fix it?" he drowsily asked.

Mikhail walked up to him and slapped the back of his head with great force. "IDIOT!" he screamed.

The brunt of the slap was enough to completely awaken Dmitri. He grabbed the back of his head. "OW!" he shouted. "Why must everyone smack me?" He then noticed loud sirens blaring. "What's going on?" he asked.

Mikhail tried to refrain from smacking his co-worker again. "Moron! Don't you see what you've done? You've let the temperature of the reactor get too high!"

Dmitri looked at the computer in alarm, noting what he had just done. "Oh, no." he said "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He put his hands on his head.

Mikhail shook his head at him. "Yes, you fool. This is what you did." He rushed back to his station, joining the other workers in attempting to cool down the reactors. Their efforts were futile. "My lord, it's too late!" he shouted. "We've got to take shelter!"

Dmitri watched the spectacle in mass horror. "What have I done?"

Sergei ran into the area. "What is going on!?" he shouted in Russian. He turned to the panicking workers. "Which one of you fools caused this? I want an answer!"

No one moved or uttered a sound.

Sergei became very furious. "NOW!" he bellowed.

The workers jumped in alarm. They went to Dmitri, huddled around him, forcefully grabbed him, and threw him towards Sergei. Dmitri landed in the snow face-down. "Oof!" he grunted.

Sergei walked towards him, giving him a piercing stare. Dmitri momentarily froze and stood up when Sergei stopped in front of him.

Sergei spoke in a very low, gruff, intimidating voice. "So," he asked, "you did this?"

Dmitri froze, not making a sound.

Sergei got impatient. "I'm not going to ask you again! Did you do this?"

Dmitri nervously shook his head.

Sergei's voice became shrill. "Don't lie to me!" he screamed.

Dmitri was shaking all over. He knew how temperamental Sergei was and immediately acquiesced. "Yes," he weakly replied.

Sergei hesitated and suddenly struck Dmitri hard across the face, causing him to fall onto the ground. Dmitri rubbed his left cheek, almost on the verge of crying. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was the realization of the fact that he brought this on himself. He didn't deserve to get punched across the face, but his carelessness had caused an emergency situation, and he had no one but himself to blame. He bit his lip and held back his tears.

"Get up!" Sergei commanded, almost kicking Dmitri. Dmitri quickly got up, almost falling over again. Sergei grabbed Dmitri's suit collar, picked him up off the ground, went over to the door of the back of the building, and threw him inside the building into a hallway. Dmitri landed face-down again, banging his elbow against the floor. He tried not to shout in pain.

Sergei walked into the hallway. "Get up, you pathetic imbecile!"

Dmitri slowly rose and faced Sergei.

"Make yourself useful for a change, and get the helicopter on the top of the building ready for my escape!" Sergei barked.

Dmitri slowly saluted the big Russian man. "Yes, sir," he replied, his voice laced with sadness.

Sergei faced the rest of the workers. "Prepare to evacuate!" he ordered.

The workers saluted him and began evacuating. Sergei ran down the hallway and bumped into Dmitri, causing him to fall over again. Sergei didn't care to look back at the worker he violently abused.

Sergei continued running down the hallway. He moved quite quickly for a man his size. Unfortunately, a man from the hallway perpendicular to the one he was on got in his way. Sergei abruptly bumped into the man. The man fell backwards and landed on his bottom, and Sergei toppled over towards the floor against the wall, injuring his left leg in the process. "Ow!" he shouted. "My leg!"

The man got up and looked at Sergei. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" he said. "Let me help you!"

The man put his arm towards Sergei to help him get up, but Sergei pushed his arm away. "Leave me!" he stated. "I don't want your help!"

"Are you sure?" the man asked. "I can help you!"

"No, I don't need any help! Just get ready to evacuate!"

The man hesitated, looking at Sergei. He then went to evacuate.

When the man left, Sergei tried to help himself up but failed to stand. His leg hurt more and more with every failed attempt to get up. "Grrr!" he growled, frustrated. He then sat down in silence and did not move, taking a break.

The sirens continued to blare around the facility. There wasn't much time left. Sergei punched the wall behind him in anger, denting it.


	13. Siberia - Part Three

Regina was still in her cell, lamenting over her failure to get the last item she needed. _Am I ever going to save Dylan and Paula!?_ she angrily thought, violently punching her pillow. She lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling and not uttering a word.

After several more minutes of silence, Regina heard very loud sirens going off in the facility, instantaneously startling her. "What the heck is that noise!?" she wondered.

After thirty seconds, Regina heard another sound. A female mechanical voice started speaking. "This is an emergency situation. Evacuation measures have been started. All doors of the facility are now opened."

All of a sudden, the doors of the prison cells in the jail center automatically unlocked and opened. Regina looked at the opened door to her cell in surprise. "Huh?" she wondered. She got up from her bed and walked to the unlocked door. "Sweet!" she exclaimed, realizing what just happened. She swung the door aside, walked into the hallway, and headed for the exit.

Regina found herself back in the hallways of the underground floor. She noticed that there were several guards and employees running around. "What is going on?" she asked herself. A man ran past her. Regina stopped him. "Excuse me, sir," she addressed him. "What's happening?"

The man looked at her, wondering who she was. "Who are you?" he asked.

Regina dismissed his question. "Never mind that; it's not important. What's going on here?"

"A nuclear meltdown is about to happen! The nuclear reactors of the facility will blow up soon!"

Regina stared at him in surprise. "What!?" she shouted.

The man was in a really big hurry. "I have no time to talk now!" he stated. "We have to leave!" He left the area quickly, leaving Regina dumbfounded.

"Great!" Regina said sarcastically. "Now, how am I going to find the stabilizer?" She looked around. There were few doors on this floor. "If I'm going to do this, I need to hurry!" Regina traversed the corridors on the floor, opening the doors of various rooms. In one room, she found a piece of paper with a combination lock number on it, putting the item away in her inventory. In another room, she found a large first-aid kit, taking it with her, just in case anything bad was going to happen.

There was one door left, on the other side of the hallway the elevator was on. It was big, gray, and wide, with a lock containing a lettered keypad. "This must be it!" Regina said in delight. She walked up to the door, disappointed to find that _another_ code was needed. "Really?" she cried in disbelief. She put her hand to her forehead, thinking of what to do next. "Maybe if I try typing in a name..." She typed in "SIBERIA." No luck. She typed in "RUSSIA." Unsuccessful. She typed in "STABILIZER." Wrong again. She even typed in "SORT." Again, the code was wrong. "Oh, come on!" She thought of another name. "Wait a minute," she said, thinking of one final name. She typed in "SERGEI." Surprisingly, the door unlocked and slid open, revealing a dark hallway. "Awesome!" she cheered.

Regina stepped into the hallway, putting her night-vision goggles on. _Thank goodness they forgot to search me for my items,_ she thought. She went down some steps and walked a short distance before approaching a safe. Regina read the piece of paper she found earlier and turned the combination lock a few times. The door unlocked, revealing another stabilizer inside. Regina picked it up and examined it thoroughly, making sure that it wasn't a decoy this time. "Yep, this is definitely real," she declared. "At long last, I've completed my mission!" She took out a thin, opaque case shaped like a rectangular prism, opened it, and gingerly placed the tube inside. She closed the case and put it away.

Regina backtracked all the way to the entrance of the dark hallway and headed towards the elevator, using it to get back to the first floor. When Regina stepped out of the elevator, she noticed that the hallways were deserted. "Did everyone already leave?" she inquired. She went down a corridor and headed for the entrance to the facility, which was her exit. Before she could get there, she spotted Sergei sitting on the floor against the wall, attempting to stand up while holding his left leg. He seemed to be in pain.

Regina stopped next to the large, Russian man and faced him. Sergei's eyes met hers. "What do you want?" he asked her.

"What happened?" Regina asked him, crouching next to him and examining his leg.

"I fell over and hurt myself," he answered. "It's not a big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal," Regina responded. "You're clearly in pain, and you need to evacuate the premises."

"Whatever," Sergei replied. Regina reached out a hand in order to help the man get up, but he refused, pushing her hand away. "Leave me! I can take care of myself!"

"You need help, Sergei," Regina said. "You can't move by yourself."

"I don't need your help!" Sergei stubbornly protested. "I've never needed help before, and I never will! Just go!"

"Not without you," Regina declared. "I can't leave someone behind like this. I just can't." She remembered leaving Dylan behind in the past.

"I don't care what your values are. Just go away. I'll be fine." Sergei pouted, crossing his arms.

"Look at yourself! The facility is about to explode, and you're as stubborn as a mule, blatantly refusing my help! You can't be serious!"

"I have always been independent, and I plan to keep it that way." Sergei grimaced.

"Sergei, you need to swallow your pride. You can't always refuse help given to you, especially when you really need it."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help, and you shouldn't be afraid to accept it, either."

Sergei looked at Regina with curiosity, still wondering why she wouldn't leave him behind. "You must really like helping people," he commented.

"Yes, I do," Regina replied. She took out the large first-aid kit she grabbed earlier and used it to immobilize Sergei's injured leg. After she finished stabilizing the patient, she stuck out her hand to help him up. Sergei looked at her hand. He then realized that if he were to stay any longer, he would be a goner for sure. Sure, this incident would damage his massively inflated ego, but that's much better than being blown to bits and pieces. Anyway, how could he refuse this nice lady's help after the way he treated her earlier? After a few moments of silence and hesitation, Sergei finally grabbed her hand. Regina helped him up to a standing position and put his arm over hers. Sergei told her that there would be a vehicle waiting for them in front of the facility entrance. Regina helped him walk all the way to their destination.

As soon as the pilot saw the two walk past the gate, he started the helicopter engine, and the rotors started moving. Regina and Sergei walked up to the side of the helicopter. Dmitri was sitting inside, sulking. The pilot helped Regina put Sergei into a seat next to Dmitri's seat, strapping him in. The pilot returned to his own seat, and Regina sat in her own seat next to Sergei's seat, strapping herself in.

"Quickly, let's leave!" Sergei commanded the pilot, speaking in Russian. The pilot nodded and made the helicopter ascend. After reaching a certain altitude, the chopper turned away from the facility and flew away.

After three minutes, the nuclear reactors reached a critical level. Within seconds, they blew up, creating a massive explosion that destroyed the facility and the snowy ground it was standing on. Fortunately, everyone that was in the facility evacuated and was safely out of the way of the explosion.

Regina heard the blast behind her. She wanted to turn around and look at it, but common sense told her that she would have lost her eyesight doing that.

Dmitri wasn't so smart, though. He started to turn to look at the spectacle behind him, but Sergei violently pulled him back in the vehicle. "Fool!" he shouted in English. "Do you want to blind yourself?"

Dmitri looked down in shame. "Right," he replied. "My mistake." He then looked at Sergei. "I'm sorry for what happened today, boss."

Sergei gave him a nasty look. "You're 'sorry'?" he repeated.

"Um, yes," Dmitri nervously replied, paralyzed by Sergei's stare.

Sergei laughed. "You carelessly put everyone in the building in danger, and you're 'sorry.' I injured my leg, and you're 'sorry.' My facility blew up, and you're 'sorry.'" He laughed again. "Fool, you don't know what 'sorry' is."

"I know I'm a moron who completely screwed up! I'm really, really, _really_ sorry!" He paused, anxiously smiling. "Forgive and forget?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

Sergei drew back his hand in order to hit Dmitri again, but Regina grabbed his arm, stopping him. "No," she said. "Forget it. It's not worth it."

Sergei looked at Regina, puzzled. He retracted his arm. "Did you see the damage he caused?" he asked her, pointing at Dmitri.

"I know. However, I don't think that backhanding him will help the situation. Let this be a lesson to him that being careless has its consequences. I doubt he'll forget this incident." Regina faced Dmitri, giving him a look that said, "You learned your lesson, _right_?"

Dmitri acknowledged her stare and nodded repeatedly, showing that he did indeed learn his lesson.

The helicopter flew for thirty minutes in the cold. It soon arrived at a small, brown, box-shaped building and landed next to it.

"This is my other office," Sergei explained to Regina. "I'll make the necessary arrangements to head home from here. You take the helicopter and head back to your country."

Regina stared at him. "Really?" she asked him. "That's awfully nice of you."

"Well, you did help me avoid a massive explosion. This is the least I can do for you." Sergei smiled at Regina and unbuckled himself from his seat.

"I already have a ride home, though." Regina pointed to her radar. There was a small blip on the screen. "I have a helicopter waiting for me."

Sergei nodded. "I see. I hope it is not too far from here."

Regina smiled. "It's not; don't worry. Here, let me help you get out of this vehicle." Regina and Dmitri helped him out of the vehicle. Sergei faced Regina, smiling. "Thank you," he said.

Regina was surprised to hear his gratitude again. "You're very welcome," she replied, grinning, too.

Sergei then faced the pilot. "Thank you for your help," he said.

The pilot nodded. "You're welcome, sir," he replied.

Sergei faced Regina again. "Regina?" he asked.

"Yes?" Regina answered.

"I know you took the stabilizer from our facility."

_Shoot!_ Regina anxiously thought. _I was hoping that wouldn't happen!_

Sergei chuckled. "I know what you're thinking," he said, adding, "but don't worry. You can keep the tube. This is my thanks to you. Besides, you seem to need it more than me."

Regina beamed. "Thank you, Sergei."

Sergei nodded. "Good-bye, Miss Regina."

"Good-bye, Sergei."

Regina turned around and started running off into the distance towards her ride home. When she was out of sight, Sergei opened the door to the building, faced Dmitri, and walked up to him. Dmitri froze again. _I'm in for it now!_ he thought.

Sergei grinned and gingerly placed his right hand on Dmitri's back. Dmitri looked at his hand in surprise, wondering what Sergei was going to do. Sergei hesitated and forcefully pushed Dmitri into the building. Dmitri tripped inside, landing on his back this time. "Ow!" he shouted.

"In you go, fool," Sergei stated, walking into the building. "Boy, do I have a lot to say to you!" He laughed an evil laugh.

Dmitri gulped as Sergei closed the door. He nearly wet his pants.

Regina soon arrived at the helicopter. The pilot waved at her. "Hi!" he greeted her. "How was the raid?"

Regina cringed. "I don't want to talk about it," she replied. "It's best that you don't know."

The pilot noticed Regina's wounded arm. "I see," he said, getting her message.

Regina entered the helicopter and strapped herself in. The chopper took off. She was delighted that she finally collected all three items needed for the Timegate. _Finally!_ she thought, as the helicopter left Siberia. _After going through so much trouble, I can now save Dylan and Paula! Cretaceous Era, here I come!_


	14. Back To The Cretaceous Era

"That's really what happened?" Rick asked, listening to the details of Regina's adventure in Siberia.

"Yes, I swear!" Regina replied, as he finished telling Rick her latest story.

"Interesting. Well, the important thing is that you're safe."

Regina nodded and took out the case that had the stabilizer in it. "Well, here's the darn thing. Now, we can save Dylan and Paula."

Rick opened the case, looking at the tube inside. "Agreed. By the way, I'm almost done with the Timegate!"

Regina clasped her hands together in joy. "Great! Nice work, Rick!"

"Thank you. Now, let's head to my laboratory."

Regina looked at him in surprise. "You have a laboratory?"

Rick smiled. "But of course! I need a place to work on my inventions!" He got up. "Come on. I'll show you."

Regina got up and followed Rick to his room. He went to the wall next to his closet, took out a remote, and pressed a button. The wall suddenly revealed a secret passageway.

Regina stared at the passageway in awe. "How do you do this stuff?"

"I have my ways." Rick grinned. "Let's go inside."

Regina and Rick went through a short, chrome hallway before coming to a chrome elevator with an electronic number pad lock. Rick put in the correct code, and the elevator opened. Regina and Rick stepped inside the shiny interior. The elevator went down to the ground floor and opened. It was dark down here, so Rick walked up to a nearby wall and turned the lights on.

Regina looked around and was quite impressed at what she saw. Large, bright lights illuminated the place, revealing a large room with a white, glossy floor and a blue raised platform against the wall opposing the elevator. There were many objects, trinkets, and gadgets sitting on several tables. Larger units of technology were on the floor, stationed against the walls. On the platform, a large, white, metal, ring-shaped object stood up against a wall, facing Rick and Regina.

"This place is amazing!" Regina commented, looking at all of the contraptions in the area.

"Thank you," Rick replied.

Regina spotted the ring-shaped object on the platform. "The Timegate!" she exclaimed, running up to it. She mounted the platform and inspected the device. "I can't believe it!" She tried to contain herself, giddy over the fact that within minutes, she would be capable of saving Dylan and Paula.

"I'm glad you're happy," Rick stated. "Now, I just need to put the intializer and the stabilizer in the right places."

"Awesome!" Regina shouted, barely containing herself.

Rick moved towards the Timegate, stopping next to it. He went to one side of the contraption and opened a panel, containing a slot meant for a tube. Rick placed the initializer into the slot and closed the panel. He went around to the other side of the machine, opened another panel, placed the stabilizer inside, and closed the panel.

"All right, Regina," Rick said. "Now, all you have to do is set the time to the date of the incident."

Regina walked towards the Timegate. Rick showed her the location of a panel on the contraption with five sets of buttons that allowed her to pick what moment in time she wanted to travel to: one set for the month, one for the day, one for the year, one for the time, and one for the location. Regina put in the exact details into the machine.

When Regina finished, Rick started the Timegate. There was a loud whirring sound as the Timegate shook, and the two soldiers stepped back from the machine. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash, and the Timegate started working. White and blue energy formed and swirled inside the ring-shaped part of the gate, forming a time-traveling portal.

_Oh, my god,_ Regina thought. _I'm really going to do this. I'm really going to save Dylan and Paula!_

"Ready?" Rick asked Regina.

Regina gave a thumbs up. _Here we go,_ she thought. She took a deep breath, counted to three, and stepped inside the Timegate. Rick followed her.


	15. Saving Dylan and Paula

Dylan looked up at the malfunctioning, damaged equipment around him as the facility started to self-destruct. He then looked back at Paula—his daughter from another time—whose legs were crushed by a supercomputer.

"Papa," the young, injured girl uttered.

Regina came to his side and crouched. She spoke in an urgent manner. "Dylan, what are we going to do?" she asked him. "If we don't go now, we'll never get back!"

Dylan looked behind him. There was a flash, and the Timegate in the back of the room started working. "Regina," he said. "The gate is open. I know you don't want to, but you'll have to go back by yourself." He then looked back at Paula. "I won't leave Paula."

Regina stood up in alarm. "Are you crazy!?" she exclaimed.

"Just go, please!" Dylan demanded. "You have the Third Energy Data, right?"

Regina pulled out the disk Dylan asked her about and showed it to him. She did not look very happy doing this.

"When you get back to our original time, use the disk to learn about 3rd Energy," Dylan explained. "Then build a perfect gate to come and pick us up from the last time."

Regina took a moment to evaluate Dylan's plan. "I'll...do it," she declared. "I will! I promise!"

Dylan saluted Regina, who returned his salute.

The facility continued to damage itself around them, nearing complete detonation. A feminine, mechanical voice spoke throughout the facility. "Final warning: ten seconds till detonation," it said loudly.

Back in the Timegate room of the facility, Regina continued to talk to Dylan. "Don't forget," she said. "You still owe me one."

Dylan nodded. "Well then," he replied, adding, "you better get back quick."

Regina slowly walked backwards and turned towards the Timegate. She ran up to it, going up some stairs. She stopped in front of the machine and looked back at Dylan, showing a gloomy facial expression. She turned around and ran into the Timegate. The energy in the portal disappeared when she ran through the gate, closing the gate completely.

Stuff continued to malfunction and explode around Dylan and Paula. Several computers started falling around them. Dylan huddled over Paula with his body, shielding her from debris.

"Papa!" Paula exclaimed, becoming more scared than ever.

Dylan heard rumbling and looked to his left. A supercomputer started to fall towards them. Dylan shielded Paula with his body again.

When the supercomputer was just about to crush them, something strange happened. Everything around them paused. It was as if time suddenly stopped.

Dylan noticed the strange phenomenon that just occurred. "Huh?" he wondered, looking around himself. The supercomputer still loomed several inches over him and Paula but was virtually stopped in its tracks. "How can that be?" he asked himself.

Paula also noticed the time stop. "Papa?" she asked Dylan, wondering what just happened.

Dylan tried to figure out what was going on. He then realized why time stopped. _Regina!_ he thought.

Several seconds later, another bright flash occurred, and the Timegate started working again. Dylan and Paula looked towards the Timegate and saw two shadowy figures coming out of the portal. When they both stepped forward, their faces were shown.

"Yes!" Dylan exclaimed.

One of the figures stepped forward again. It was a woman with fair, red hair and a slim, curvy body. She wore a bright smile on her face. "Hi!" she greeted Dylan and Paula. "Long time no see!"

"Regina!" Dylan said. "I knew you would come back for us!"

Regina flipped her hair with her right hand. "I always keep my promise," she said.

The other shadowy figure in the room was Rick. "Hi!" he said, waving.

Dylan smiled. "Man," he said. "Am I glad to see you guys!"

Regina brought her attention back to the urgency of the situation. "All right, let's get that giant computer off Paula's legs!" she declared. She took notice of the giant computer looming over Dylan and Paula and turned to Rick. "Blast that thing away, will you?" she asked him, pointing to the floating supercomputer.

Rick saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" he said. He took out a powerful missile gun, aimed it at the computer, and fired once. The missile sharply collided with the supercomputer before knocking it away.

"Excellent work, Rick," Regina said. "Now do the same to the machine on Paula's legs."

Rick aimed the gun at the computer crushing Paula's legs and fired. The missile impacted the machine, sending it flying away.

Paula was delighted to have that machine off her legs. She tried to stand up, but the injury to her legs prevented her from standing well. She fell back down. Dylan helped her up and lifted her into his arms. He then looked towards Rick and Regina. "Thank you, both," he said.

"You're welcome," Rick replied, smiling.

"Now to get back to our own time," Regina said.

"Great," Dylan commented. "Let's go into the portal."

Everyone in the room walked to the portal. Dylan, carrying Paula, stepped into the Timegate, entering the portal. Rick and Regina followed him inside.

Back in the laboratory, the Timegate on the blue platform activated. Seconds later, Regina, Rick, Dylan, and Paula came tumbling out of the portal, landing on the platform.

Regina looked around. She was definitely back in Rick's laboratory.

"Ah, home, sweet, home!" Dylan said, grinning. He went over to Paula's side and picked her up.

"Couldn't agree more," Regina said, getting up.

"Now what?" Rick inquired, dusting himself off.

Regina looked at the entrance of Rick's laboratory. "Come on, everyone," she said. "Let's go home."


	16. Ending

Regina, Rick, and Dylan returned to their jobs. The government soon found out about Regina's little stunt. They weren't happy that she went behind their backs and used the Timegate to go back in time by herself, but they were satisfied to know that she wasn't completely disregarding her orders. After all, she did rescue a missing survivor.

Regina went back in time with Rick, Dylan, and many other T.R.A.T. and S.O.R.T. soldiers to the Cretaceous Era in order to save the 1000 survivors. With the help of Paula, who underwent medical therapy for her legs and eventually regained her ability to speak due to intensive speech therapy, everyone was able to safely navigate the jungles, avoid most of the dinosaurs, and find all of the survivors of the 3rd Energy incident. The helmeted people were also found, and with Paula's help, the soldiers were able to communicate with them, persuading them to go back to their own time.

After everyone was returned back to his or her own present time, Paula went to a high-tech facility and used the equipment there to send everything back to its own time, officially finishing Noah's Ark's Plan and ending the human crisis.

–

Regina and Dylan were in Regina's apartment on one sunny afternoon. Regina was in the kitchen, pouring soft drinks into two cups: one for her guest and one for herself. When she was finished, she took the drinks and walked to the living room.

Dylan was sitting on a large couch in the room, waiting for Regina to return from the kitchen. He smiled when he saw her coming back. "Thank you, Regina," he said, as Regina handed him his drink.

Regina sat down next to him. "You're welcome," she replied.

Dylan took a sip of his drink and put it on a coaster on a table in front of the sofa. He turned to Regina, eager to talk about her journey to rescue him. "So, Regina, it must have been _heck_ trying to save me and Paula," he remarked.

Regina took a sip of her own drink and placed it on another coaster on the table. She faced him and spoke. "You have _no_ idea," she agreed.

Dylan chuckled. "Well, despite all of the trouble you've been through—and that's clearly _a lot_—I, on behalf of both my daughter and me, want to thank you again for saving us."

Regina smiled. "You're very welcome, Dylan. I was glad to do it."

"We were scared out of our minds back in that facility! I thought I had done something stupid and crazy by telling you to go back in time to save us, but I still didn't give up on you. Thank god I didn't."

"Well, how do you think I feel?" She smiled. "I ran into so much danger!"

"Yeah, that's some crazy stuff. I'm sorry you went through all of that."

"Don't worry about it."

Dylan nodded and took another sip from his drink.

Regina winked at Dylan. "Don't forget; you still owe me one."

Dylan grinned. "Don't worry. I'll repay the favor somehow."

"That's fine. I'm in no rush." Regina moved and sat closer to Dylan. "I'm just glad you're alive."

"Me, too, Regina. Me, too."

"By the way, how's your daughter Paula?"

"Oh, she's fine. When they sent her back to her own time, she undid all of the damage done to the time-space continuum so that none of this mess would ever happen again. At least, that's what I heard she was going to do."

Regina sat up in surprise. "You mean the crisis is officially over?" she inquired.

"I'd say so, yes," Dylan answered. "So, it's a happy day for everyone."

Regina hugged Dylan tightly. "It sure is."

Dylan hugged her back. "I've missed you _so_ much, Regina."

"I've missed you, too, Dylan. I've missed you, too."


End file.
